New Delhi: Trade Minister Craig Emerson joined cricketer Adam Gilchrist in New Delhi today to launch a special Indian edition of Australia Unlimited magazine celebrating the trade and cultural connections between India and Australia. 

The app-based magazine for iPhones and iPads was developed as part of the Australia Unlimited campaign showcasing the ideas and achievements of Australians at home and around the world. The magazine features stories and articles celebrating the people who are strengthening Australia – India bilateral links, and the diverse ways in which Australians are engaging via science, culture, technology, education, business and humanitarian work with India.

The India special edition of Australia Unlimited is the first time the magazine has a country focus. The edition showcases the contemporary connections between the two countries across culture, innovation, sport, business, science and education, and was developed in conjunction with the Australian High Commission in New Delhi.

"Commercial relationships, like cultural links, are as much about the people driving them than the flow of goods and services," Dr Emerson said. 

"This special edition of the magazine is dedicated to some of the people at the centre of Australia's rich relationship with India." 

The magazine was launched at the Australian High Commission in India, where Adam Gilchrist, an ambassador for the University of Wollongong, addressed a group of influential Indian and Australian guests. 

"Our two countries share a strong bond through our passion for cricket. The Australia Unlimited magazine reminds us that there is much more to this relationship than a ball and a bat," Mr Gilchrist said. 

"Through film, fashion, science, infrastructure, technology and cultural preservation the people of India and Australia are working together and continuing to strengthen our unique relationship," he added. 

On the forthcoming Australia's tour of India, Gilchrist said:"India has always been one of the toughest tours, and we've always enjoyed our fair share of battles with a very strong Indian team, and surprisingly, it was our pace attack which clinched the final frontier in 2004. 

"A lot has changed since we last toured in 2010 when India won 2-0. For starters, both sides have lost some key players and England not only  challenged India, but also out bowled them to clinch the Test series, and i'm expecting another hard-fought series" 

Dr Emerson said greater cultural appreciation was an important part of the bilateral relationship, which had been strengthened by the Strategic Partnership agreed in November 2009. 

The app-based magazine was launched as part of Oz Fest, the biggest Australian cultural festival ever staged in India. 

The Australian Government is committed to deepening the Australia-India relationship. 

Its White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century had created a roadmap for greater engagement with Asia, including with India, Dr Emerson said. 

Australia and India are also negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. 

India is Australia's fourth largest export market. More than 450,000 of people of Indian descent live in Australia. 

"A new era of Indo-Pacific cooperation is upon us," Dr Emerson said. 

"The more we learn about each other, and appreciate our complementary strengths, the deeper will be our engagement."